If Farrell was a Botha it would be a different ban
REACTION: Springbok legend Bakkies Botha has added his voice to the chorus questioning the length of Owen Farrell’s ban.
The England flyhalf only received a five-match ban for a sickening head-high tackle on teenager Charlie Atkinson while playing for Saracens against Wasps in the English Premiership this past Saturday.
Farrell was shown a red card for the incident. The disciplinary panel concluded that it was a “top-end offence” which meant a suspension of 10 matches.
However, that ban was halved to five matches with a statement explaining the factors that provided some sort of defence for Farrell.
“Testimonials provided by Mark McCall, Eddie Jones and the founders of a charity with which the player works very closely were of the highest quality,” said panel Chairman Mike Hamlin.
“The panel concluded that applying the off-field mitigating factors, notwithstanding his suspension four and a half years ago, the player was entitled to a reduction from 10 to five meaningful matches under RFU regulation 19.11.11.”
Botha, who himself had his fair share of bans for foul play in his career, hinted that there are inconsistencies with the way bans are handed down.
See Botha’s Twitter response and a video of Farrell’s tackle below:
